we are just putting safety. >> the warning from police about a rise if robberies around a busy b.a.r.t. station and what the criminals are targeting. good afternoon. there is an alarming rise in robbery in's east bay b.a.r.t. station. police are focusing their attention on the neighborhoods around the mcarthur b.a.r.t.

station. ktvu's alex savage is live to tell us what thieves are targeting. good afternoon, alex. >> reporter: good afternoon. they are snatching people's smart phones and other devices. these thieves are looking to be people more focused on their cell phones than what's going on around them. >> being a victim. >> reporter: that's why this morning, b.a.r.t. police officers and oakland police officers fanned out here at the mcarthur b.a.r.t. station to hand out safety flyers to commuters. they are warning people to be more aware because ofa significant increase in theft in b.a.r.t. stations. passengers on board trains are also having their phones taken as well. often, it's people who are sitting close to the doors. >> because it's an easy exit. you can snatch the phone just as the doors open and you can snatch them and they close so fast, the person's phone or property will be snatched before they even realize it and they are still trying figure

out how they can report it. >> don't be distracted by your electronic devices, such as if you can avoid talking to your phone, conceal that phone in your pocket, purse, back pack, same with other electronic devices. >> reporter: this crime trend has prompted oakland police to increase patrols near the b.a.r.t. stations. and officers will be putting people on board trains hoping to catch these thefts. >> people walking are on their cell phones, not paying attention to their surroundings and, you know, people walk up to you and asking you for change. i think this is a good awareness program for to us have >> reporter: oakland police say at this point, it does not appear to be one group of thieves involved here. they want to put a stop to these crimes before someone does get hurt. that's why they are handing out these safety flyers at b.a.r.t. stations in the west oakland

area hoping more people will be aware of their surroundings, hoping to crack down on cell phone thieves. >> thank you, alex. san jose police have arrested a suspect in a fatal stabbing at a safeway store earlier this week. investigators say they arrested 27-year-old michael paul howard at his home in san jose yet. they believe he is the person who stabbed and killed juan munoz around 8:30. munoz was near the produce aisle. police say they are not releasing any information about what led to the stabbing or a possible motive. a suspicious fire left a small oakland business in ruins. the fire started around 1:00 a.m. at an appliance repair shop at 64th avenue and international boulevard. smoke could be seen pouring from the eaves of budget appliances, a building full of used washers, dryers and refrigerators.

firefighters believe that the fire started in the front the building. the man who runs business fixes up old appliances and sells them but firefighters say he will be out of business for a while. the cause of the fire is still under investigation. firefighters were busy early this morning with a garage fire near san raphael. flames and smoke poured out of thage just before 2:00 this morning north of downtown san rafael. the fire damaged several vehicles in the garage but only caused minimal damage to the house. after tense moments, the family liveing there made it out safely. >> when we came over, you know, basically, the garage, part of the garage here, you know, just was up in flames and we were really concerned about where the family was because they were nowhere to be seen. my sister said he had gone back inside to try to get his family out. >> reporter: an investigation is underway to determine what sparked the fire.

continuing coverage now to the northern california wild fire, the popped rosa fire in shasta and tehama counties, the fire has now burned nearly 29,000 acres. it has destroyed 84 homes and other buildings and threatens 900 homes and 10 businesses. firefighters say they have it 57% contained. yesterday, governor brown declared a state of emergency for that area. for many colleges and universities in the bay area, this is the day that students return to campus. new at noon, ktvu's lorraine blanco joins us live from san francisco state to tell us why there is mixed emotions about the future of many state schools. lorraine? >> reporter: today is a happy day for most parents, helping their undergrad move into san francisco state today. can you see a long line of cars behind me with families dragging in those belongings but there is some apprehension today as state budget cuts continue to threaten their

future. >> welcome so san francisco state. >> reporter: the freshmen 15 pertained to pieces of luggage, not weight gain. it's move-in day for families. >> i feel kind of anxious, excited to go. really ready, ready to go to new stuff. >> just by the sound of it, dr. samuel sound good. >> reporter: okay, mom, let's get the ironing board before we talk advanced degree. >> he is the foyers go to college. he has a weight on his shoulder but he's going to do great and we're going to do great >> reporter: no matter how they do, they are dealing win creasing tuition and the possibility of more increases in the future. >> a little frustrating, disheartening to hear because having a secondary or a college education is so important. all the budget cuts will affect kids' decision to either go to

school and continue their education. >> reporter: because of those cuts, the school freezed admission. they will admit just a few hundreds. the victim of a bad economy and the worst part is the uncertainty. >> basically, not knowing from year to year what the picture is going to be for the following year. and then again trying to assure our students. >> reporter: csu is hoping that the november election will pass a ballot. most of that money would go to schools. if prop 30 does not pass, there will be a chance there will be more tuition increases and/or more enrollment issues. lorraine blanco, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you, lorraine. reports are surfacing that claim the sacramento kings may be moving back east. according to the financial

journal inside business, the nba team may be headed to virginia beach, virginia. the kings have tried for years to build a new arena in sacramento. according to the report, the move to virginia beach would likely include a new sports arena. a spokesman for the team would not comment on the report. 100 people flocked to a drive through in san jose. we'll tell you what they wantd from a certain fast food chain. mark tamayo will be live to tell you if the temperature are cooling. and the battle against mosquitos and west nile virus may be seeing a seen like this in your neighborhood. wow, look at this bed!

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san francisco street cars were briefly slowed in the sunset district because of a water main break. they had to be waved through slowly between 32nd and 33rd and alterro. muni officials say there were no major delays and water officials said that no one lost water service. crews have now fixed the problem. no one was hurt in a fiery collision between a freight train and a tanker truck in east texas. the accidents happened around 1:30 at wills point about 45 miles east of dallas. authorities say it appears that the collision happened after

the big rig got stuck on the tracks. the driver of the tanker truck jumped out of the vehicle just moments before the train hit. this was opening day at a new chick-fil-a red in san jose and people lined up early. tara moriarty is telling us what they are trying to win and why they are shrugging off the recent controversy over gay marriage. >> reporter: the first 100 people in line received a coupon for free meals for once a week for the whole year. >> we are nuts for chick-fil-a. i had for, like, breakfast, lunch, dinner, midnight snack, like two months straight. >> reporter: you are a fan of chick-fil-a. >> waffle fries. >> reporter: richard cully traveled more than 3000 miles to be here. >> i actually eat in chick-fil- a six days a week. >> reporter: fans of the

atlanta chain grabbed their tents and sleeping bags. >> i'm dedicated to chick-fil-a >> reporter: larry pryor has been in line here for 24 hours. he says he is not discouraged by the controversy. >> no reledge on, no politics. >> i think that's one man's opinion which i share with hip as well. so it's still a great product. >> reporter: but it's not sitting well with gay rights activist like craig person who says it's sending the wrong message. >> what i'm witnessing is the media storm around this whole idea that chick-fil-a is now representing the backlash against gay marriage >> reporter: earlier this month, customers flooded this for the appreciation day. a few days later, nationwide, opponents kissd in front of

restaurant. later, the lbgt community plan to protest here in support of gay rights. police have ruled rodney king's death anaccidental drowning. his videotaped beating 20 years ago died in june. king had numerous drugs such as pcp, cocaine and marijuana in his his sell his system at the time of his death. king's fiance found him at the bottom of a swimming pool the centers for disease control says that this year's west nile virus outbreak is one of the worst in u.s. history. nationwide, there have been more than 1100 cases including 41 deaths. that's about four times the our number of cases for this time of the year. half of them have been reportd in texas. two deaths have been reported here in california. the virus is spread from birds

to people via mosquitoes. a helicopter sprayed 400 acres of marsh land. the county is trying to get rid of summer salt marsh mosquitoes. they do not carry the west nile virus but they do have a vicious bite. and in contra costa county, pesticide fogging is supposed to take place this afternoon. county vector control says that the fogging is to be done by trucks and is scheduled to start at 8:00 p.m. some bay area nurses are holding a rally outside the harris county in berkeley to protest the planned closure of a unit for chronologically ill patients. it is part of the sutter hospital chain. it is closing the 48 bed subacute pulmonary unit there. they stopped admitting patients to the unit several months ago

which also allowed it to reduce the number of nurses at the hospital. the nurses say that provide add vital health care. >> at one point, it was a lucrative unit to have for the hospital. with with current laws, it has become more of a quote-unquote burden for them. they have closed the unit down. and most of these higher seniority nurses are no longer allowed to transfer into other units. >> the last patient being cared for on the unit was discharged monday. many others have been transferred to other medical facilities the obama administration wants to expand bay marine sanc the ocean just off san francisco. the sanctuary runs from hearst castle to the marin headlands prohibiting oil it drilling. but it has a gap just outside the golden gate and along san francisco. the national oceanic and atmospheric administration plans to hold a meeting.

ktvu and our parent company cox media group are bringing you the stories of three bay area people making a difference in their communities. they have been nominated as coxconserve hero. we have the story of a woman who is literally saving pieces of history. >> reporter: this is a gateway to knowledge, exercise and discovery. the retired software developer became the leader of the path software association. >> these are ten feet wide, total public property. they are not eastments or anything. they are just like the streets >> reporter: originally, they were cement path ways so people could get from one street to another to catch street cars. in the 1920s, as the cars became dominant, the paths were left unattended. surveys dealt with city hall as

well as neighbors living alongside the path to resurrect 30 path ways. >> it's fun, healthy and you come up with a good end product, you know. people get to use the paths. >> reporter: the nonprofit organization pays for all material such as untreated eucalyptus timbers, steel bars to secure the steps and the paths are marked by signs. when it's done and there are steps all the way, we ask the city and they put a sign at the top and a sign at the bottom. >> there are still some 25 path ways to renovate. charlie says she'll continue her crusade because -- >> i love doing this for two reasons. i love the path and i like to walk. >> and so will generations to come. bill martin, ktvu channel 2 news. >> charlie bone is one of three bay area connoisseur vase heroes we are profiling this week on ktvu channel 2 news and the channel 2 news website can you vote for your favorite. voting continues for september

24th. the bay area cox conserve heroes winner will be announced on october 11th and the winner will receive $10,000 for charity and the other two will get $2500. the boats are back on the day today for the quarterfinals in the america's cup world series races. organizers expect thousands of people will be there to watch. only three out of four of the 11 teams competing today are expected to be back for next year's big america cup races. the others have not raised enough money to return. some breezy conditions on the bay this afternoon with a small craft advisory kicking in at 1:00, which is just a few minutes from now. right now, inland, lots of sunshine, out toward the mount diablo, lots of haze. major heat is not in the forecast for today. in fact, it's going to rain. the low clouds hugging the coast line from point reyes, pacifica, san francisco and

still a few patches towards richmond and oakland. this is a completely different story compare to yesterday. this is clearing back to the coast. with the stubborn fog bank, we're going to cool it off a little bit. that's showing up with the current numbers, as you can see right now, mainly in the 60s and 70s. livermore at 72. san francisco at 59 and san jose mostly sunny skies and 74. today, coastal fog, more sunshine inland. tomorrow, we're going to bring back the fog, at least for the morning hours. skies becoming partly sunny and the weekend, temperatures continue to cool off just a little bit but these are just minor changes to the overall weather pattern. this is going to be cooling off a good portion of the state during the past nearly a week or so. this remains in place for today. as a result, we are trimming back to those temperatures this afternoon. right around 60 coast side, around the bay, mid-70s. temperatures inland, mainly in the mid-780s and wind speed do pick up this afternoon from around 15 to 25 miles per hour. and into the weekend this

cooler onshore flow remains in place. as a result, temperatures will continue to shave off a few degrees saturday into sunday. you can see quite a range out there from 60 in pacificca, warmest locations inland, upper 80s to right around 90 degrees. fairfield breezy. winds topping 20 miles per hour. forecast high of 83. san jose, right around 78. morgan hill, 85 degrees. here is a look ahead at your five-day forecast. pretty much the same story into friday. the clouds regrouping and some it drizzle first thing friday morning. and into the weekend, we scale back on those temperatures inland but still pretty nice out there, low to mid-80s and pretty much the same story as we do head into monday next week. torry, any time i go to the beach and see people driving out there expecting a day from the relief and you see the fog, you want to be prepared for that. it's sweater weather at the coast. yes, it gets very chilly. petaluma continues its

quest for a u.s. little league championship. they beat a team out of connecticut to stay in the tournament and they will take a team out of texas. the loser goes home ant winner plays tennessee saturday for the u.s. championship. ktvu has a reporter and photographer in petaluma watching people watch the game. a live coverage at 5:00. an artwork made from a half billion dollars government loss. when fremont solar company solyndra filed for bankruptcy, it left millions of gas tubes in a warehouse used for solar paneling. but a sculpture has now been created out of nearly 1400 glass tubes. the sculpture called solgrotto is currently on display at the university of california botanical garden in solano. when we come back, new

jobless numbers and why government agencies are telling you to be careful with a particular type of fruit.

stocks are down as expectations for swift, stimulus action from the federal reserve faded. chinese and euro zone data pointed to stall in growth. hp stock down nearly 88%. taking a live look at the big

board. the dow down 119. nasdaq down 18. s&p down 10. the labor department reports 372,000 people filed for first time unemployment insurance last week. that's up 4000 from the week before. applications have risen for two weeks in a row but the numbers are still lower than they were five weeks ago. economists say that suggests hiring could slightly improve this month. the food and drug administration issued an official recall for cantaloupe that may be linked to salmonella. health officials also released the name of the producer, indiana-based chamberlain farm. two people have died and 86 people got sick including two people here in california. today on ktvu at 5:00, there is new information about the plan to change the alert system following the fire at chevron's richmond fire refinery. what we learned about a

california company that is involved. thank you for trusting ktvu channel 2 news. we'll see you the next time news breaks. be sure join us again at 5:00. and we are always here for you on ktvu.com and mobile ktvu.com. bed in america?

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